Rhaphuma gracilipes is an East-Palaearctic species distributed from Eastern Europe, where is rather rare [▽], through Siberia to Pacific coast, including the northern regions of Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China, Korea, and Japan. Larvae of R. gracilipes develop in freshly dead branches and stems of deciduous trees and shrubs, firstly under the bark, then in the wood. Life-cycle is 2 years. Adults, diurnal and anthophilous, are active from June to September [❖][✧].

R. gracilipes has been described from Altai Mts. (Russia) as Clytus gracilipes by Franz Faldermann in 1835 [✮]. The systematic position of this taxon remains unclear. It was described as a Clytus genus member, subsequently moved to genus Clytanthus, then for decades was known as Chlorophorus gracilipes. Finally, it was moved to genus Rhaphuma on the basis of characters of long segments of antennae. However, for a definitive and correct classification in the genus, it is necessary to make a comparison with related species based on a detailed study of all morphological characters, including genitalia, and also a DNA analysis [▽].

Body length:	10 - 14 mm
Life cycle:	2 years
Adults in:	June - September
Host plant:	extremely polyphagous in deciduous trees and shrubs (e.g. Acer, Betula, Tilia, Salix, Malus, Alnus, Pyrus, Cerasus, Juglans, Morus, Fraxinus, Quercus, Ulmus, Carpinus, Daphne, Micromeles, Aralia, Vitis, Spiraea, Syringa, Euonymus)
Distribution:	Belarus, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Korea

The depicted beetle was collected on flowers in Oblachnaya (Облачная) Mountain (800 m a.s.l., South Sikhote-Alin range, Primorsky Krai, Far Eastern Federal District, Russia) on July 7, 1989.

Collected by Stanislav Jakl

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[▽]
Kurzawa J.:
Distribution of Rhaphuma gracilipes (Faldermann, 1835) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) in Europe.
Acta Entomologica Silesiana 20: 65-70, 2012. [download ]

[❖]
Karpiński L., Szczepański W.T., Plewa R., Walczak M., Hilszczański J., Kruszelnicki L., Łoś K., Jaworski T., Bidas M., Tarwacki G.:
New data on the distribution, biology and ecology of the longhorn beetles from the area of South and East Kazakhstan (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae)
ZooKeys 805: 59–126 (2018) [download ]

[✧]
Cherepanov A.I.:
Cerambycidae of Northern Asia, Volume 2 - Cerambycinae Part II.
Amerind Publishing, New Delhi: 354pp [pages 248-256], 1988. [download ]

[✮]
Faldermann F.:
Coleopterorum ab illustrissimo Bungio in China boreali, Mongolia et montibus Alaicis collectorum, nec non ab ill. Turczaninoffio et Stschukino e provincia Irkutzk missorum illustrationes.
Mémoires présentés à l'Académie Impériale des Sciences de Saint-Pétersbourg (Sixième Série), Sciences Mathématiques, Physiques et Naturelles 2: 337-464, 1835. [download ]